Police retrace CIA's expensive Italian job

Page Tools

For 19 American intelligence operatives assigned to apprehend a
radical Islamic preacher in Milan two years ago, the mission was
equal parts James Bond and taxpayer-financed Italian holiday.

The Americans stayed at some of the finest hotels in Milan,
ringing up about $US500 ($650) a day on credit card accounts
created to match their newly forged identities.

Then, after abducting their target and flying him to Cairo under
the noses of Italian police, some of them rounded out their
European trip with long weekends in Venice and Florence before
leaving the country.

Milan prosecutors and police have spent the past two years
documenting the US's role in the February 17, 2003 disappearance of
Hussan Mustafa Omar Nasr, 42, an Egyptian cleric whose whereabouts
are unknown.

On Thursday, a Milan judge ruled that there was enough evidence
to warrant the arrest of 13 suspected CIA operatives on kidnapping
charges.

The Americans' whereabouts are unknown, and Italian authorities
acknowledged that the odds were slim that they would ever be taken
into custody. The CIA has declined to comment.

While most of the operatives apparently used false identities,
they left a long trail of paper and electronic records that enabled
Italian investigators to retrace their movements in detail.

Mr Nasr was accosted by eight agents who sprayed chemicals in
his face and shoved him into a white van.

The Americans immediately started dialling numbers in Italy and
the US.

From Aviano air base Mr Nasr was flown to Cairo via Germany.

One remaining mystery in the case is whether Italian
intelligence officials knew about the operation beforehand.

Paolo Cento, a Green Party member, said: "The alternatives are
only two. Either our authorities knew, or the American 007s had
full freedom of action on our territory."